Dovid is telling a story about a poor man who was evicted from his cottage finally — he couldn’t pay rent and finally the sheriff came and evicted him. So he went and sat on the dung heaps. It’s a pile of manure. It’s not a very pleasant place to sit but at least he has some place to sit.
What happened to him? Today he’s wealthy. He has a place of business, he has a family. He raised himself up; he picked himself up by his bootstraps and he became wealthy. And now he’s עִם נְדִיבִים – with the nobility of the land, עִם נְדִיבֵי עַמּוֹ – with the noble ones of the nation.
So he’s sitting there and thinking, “Whoa! How did I get here?”
Well, something happened in between. He got busy, he invested, he bought a little business, he got rich, he bought a bigger business, and finally he’s sitting in the palace with all the wealthy people of the country; עִם נְדִיבֵי עַמּוֹ.
So what is he thinking? He’s thinking, “Look, I worked hard. It pays to work hard. I got up early, I saved my money. I invested. It pays to be a hustler! Look what I did for myself.”
No! This man in Dovid’s story, he’s not saying that! He’s saying, “מְקִימִי מֵעָפָר דָּל לְהוֹשִׁיבִי עַם נְדִיבִים – You’re the One, Hashem. מֵאַשְׁפֹּת יָרִים אֶבְיוֹן – You’re the One Who lifted me out of the garbage dump. לְהוֹשִׁ יבִי עִם נְדִיבִים – Hashem, You’re the one Who seats me with the nobility of the land, עִם נְדִיבֵי עַמּוֹ – with the nobles of Your people.”
Dovid’s Rags
Now, we understand that Dovid is talking from personal experience; he’s talking about his own experiences in his life. Dovid, at one time, was unknown to the world. When he was a youth, he was a sheepherder for his family. He went out sometimes for weeks in the wilderness with his flocks. He slept in the midbar. In the daytime as he was watching his sheep, he spent his time talking to Hashem. And he talked with his harp; as he talked he was playing music and he was singing to Hashem his love for Hakadosh Baruch Hu. Dovid grew great behind the sheep but nobody knew about him. Nobody knew the greatness of Dovid.
And when Shmuel Hanavi came to anoint a melech from one of the sons of Yishai it never occurred to anybody that he should call in Dovid, that maybe he's the one. No, they didn't think about him. A boy, a shepherd boy.
Dovid’s Riches
“וַיִּקָּחֵנִי מֵאַחֲרֵי הַצֹּאן – Hashem took me from behind the sheep,” said Dovid. “מְקִימִי מֵעָפָר דָּל – He raised me up from the dust, מֵאַשְׁפֹּת יָרִים אֶבְיוֹן – He took me out of the garbage heap, לְהוֹשִׁיבִי עִם נְדִיבִים – to sit with nobility.” Dovid sat next to Shaul. He became an eidem, a son-in-law of Shaul Hamelech.
Now, we can be sure that when Dovid married the daughter of Shaul Hamelech he was thinking, “What just happened? Who am I? How did I get here?”
So we say, “What's the question? You killed Golias Haplishti! You did a great act of heroism and you became beloved by the whole nation. That's why Shaul chose you.”
“No,” Dovid said, “I didn't do that. Hashem did it. How did I come to sit next to Shaul? How did I come לְהוֹשִׁיבִי עִם נְדִיבִים, to sit next to a king?
Now to sit next to a gentile king is already a surprising thing but עִם נְדִיבֵי עַמּוֹ, to sit next to the king of the Am Yisroel? That's a tremendous glory! “How did it come to a little man like me?” said Dovid. “Who did it?” לְהוֹשִׁ יבִי! He sat me here! Hakadosh Baruch Hu is the One Who did it! And so Dovid Hamelech was full of surprise and happiness and gratitude. He could never forget what Hashem did for him.
That’s what happened to this rich man in Dovid’s mashal. A rich man is sitting in his palace and he remembers that he was once sitting on the dirt. He was a poor boy sitting on the dung heaps with nothing in his pockets. And he was thinking, “Where will I get my next meal from?” And today he is a millionaire! So his job is to remember always that it was mekimi – that You raised me up, and l’hoshivi – it was You who sat me here.
History Repeats Itself
But Dovid was speaking not only for himself; he was saying that mashal for everyone. Here is a man, let's say, an American boy, an am ha'aretz; he came from an irreligious family, became a frum boy, worked hard, learned, had good children. Now he's marrying off his children with good shidduchim. Maybe he’s sitting next to his eidem. “Such a fine eidem I have. Such fine mechutanim I have.”
One of his sons even married the daughter of a rosh yeshivos. So he's sitting now next to the rosh yeshivah at the tena'im, at the chasunah. “How did I come here? How did I come to sit next to a rosh yeshivah? מְקִימִי מֵעָפָר דָּל!”
I know people like that, people who were nothing and all of a sudden they were catapulted into the company of the gedolei hador. It was a tremendous thing.
It happens every day nowadays. מֵאַשְׁפֹּת יָרִים אֶבְיוֹן – He took me out of a garbage heap. My family is a garbage heap, amaratzim. He took me out from my family and now I'm a mechutan with rosh yeshivos; נְדִיבֵי עַמּוֹ!
And so Dovid is telling us that we have to do that too. “You want to be excited about Hashem? You want to fulfill Hallelu-Kah? So think what Hashem did to you. Go back and think! בָּרֲכִי נַפְשִׁי אֶת ה' וְאַל תִּשְׁכְּחִי כָּל גְּמוּלָיו – Thank Hashem! And don’t forget all the things that He bestowed upon you.”
You were just a boy one day and now you're a talmid chacham. You’re married, you have children; grandchildren maybe. A little parnassa you have; maybe more than a little. Whatever it is, it’s מְקִימִי מֵעָפָר דָּל – He’s the One Who raises up the low man from the dust; מֵאַשְׁפֹּת יָרִים אֶבְיוֹן – He’s the One Who raises the poor man from the dung heaps. Whatever you achieved in life , He’s the One who established you!
And we can’t forget the greatest chessed of all. All of us today, all frum Jews are sitting next to each other; עִם נְדִיבֵי עַמּוֹ. All frum Jews are melachim. Isn't it a happiness we're together with them? How many of your friends from your younger days went away? How many went lost? But you, Hashem saved you. You were nothing, a little boy, and He lifted you up and gave you what’s worth everything; you’re sitting among the Am Yisroel. You’re with the nedivei amo, the ones who are guaranteed כָּל יִשְׂרָאֵל יֵשׁ לָהֶם חֵלֶק לָעוֹלָם הַבָּא. And that’s already enough of a reason to say hallel to Hakadosh Baruch Hu מֵעַתָּה וְעַד עוֹלָם.
